Being a small outfit whose contributors have day jobs, Bostonist isn't always able to bring you the scoops. (Then again, we also don't make you tell us weird demographic information before you can see our content.) What we can do without fail, however, is bring you the personal angle. So if you read the story in today's Globe about the Romanian man who's been stealing ATM card info (and actual money) all around eastern Mass. (and dabbling in some immigrant smuggling, which is why he got caught), you may wonder, "How much does it suck to have one's ATM card duplicated and used by bandits?" Bostonist can report from personal experience: It sucks a lot.
A couple months back, our card was surreptitiously copied and used (not by the recently captured Romanian, we think, but by some other nefarious character). Our bank had the good graces to give us a call when, after buying groceries with our card in Somerville, we appeared to use the same card to spend $500 at a Sears in Chicago on the same day. However, after that, things got more complicated. The bank promised us they would reimburse us, but that it would take a few days. In the mean time, they said, we should act as though we had the missing money, and they'd take care of it. Well, "take care of it" in this case meant sending us a notice (with a surcharge!) for a bounced check, sending us numerous weird affidavits to sign as part of their investigation into the $500 purchase in Illinois, and, worst of all, refusing to tell us what we allegedly bought out there in the windy city! (We would be especially irritated if all this grief stemmed from the purchase of something that we had been coveting but felt we couldn't afford.)
Photo courtesy of flickr.com / user: 7-how-7
After all that, we are more vigilant than we used to be, but we suspect that crafty thieves will continue to stay a step ahead of the precautionary advice given by the authorities. As such, we remind you, dear reader, that if this should happen to you, call the bank as soon as it happens and don't let them give you the runaround. If they act like they're doing you a big favor or offering you a great service by refunding your lost money, remember that they're only doing it because it's required by federal law (sorry Capital One; clever ads notwithstanding, it's the mighty U.S. government that holds marauding Vikings at bay). There's one other valuable lesson to be gleaned from today's story about the captured crook: Don't quit your day job. The skills that make a person good at high-tech bank fraud don't make him good at smuggling Pakistanis in from Canada.
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
